Pat Narduzzi's Defense of Phil Jurkovec is Inexplicable

The Pitt Panthers appear unwilling to make a hard decision.

MORGANTOWN -- The Pitt Panthers survived some poor quarterback play in 2022, but the extent of their ability to live with subpar signal callers has been pushed in 2023. 

Pitt suffered a brutal, embarrassing and wholly predictable loss in the Backyard Brawl. They scored six points, gained just 211 yards and turned the ball over three times. Head coach Pat Narduzzi said there was a lot of blame to go around, but he avoided placing any at the feet of who was most responsible - his starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec - and in doing so, has done his team a massive disservice. 

For the second season in a row, Pat Narduzzi has sheltered a quarterback who has presented him with nothing but bad results from criticism that is well deserved. In his postgame press conference, Narduzzi said turnovers were the difference in the game and he's right, but he spoke about Jurkovec's three interceptions as if they had a life of their own. 

“The difference in the game is turnovers," Narduzzi said. "They made some plays on the ball and we didn’t. 10 of their points went one play, seven yards for a touchdown. They went four plays and six yards to kick the field goal. That’s 10 points right there."

Narduzzi avoided saying what was painfully obvious to the national television audience that watched his offense fight tooth and nail to muster just six points against a passing defense that entered this weekend ranked 119th nationally in passing yards allowed, 117th in completion percentage allowed, 124th in first downs allowed via the pass, 129th in average opponent passer rating and is tied for 133rd in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

Jurkovec's miscues - each of which were certainly avoidable - became so apparent that even ABC play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough felt compelled to comment on it bluntly. 

“I am still shocked that Pitt hasn’t taken more shots down the field against a pass defense that’s been one of the worst in the country over the past couple of years," he said in the middle of the broadcast. "But it seems like every time they try, Phil Jurkovec makes a bad decision.”

From the outset, Pitt's game plan reflected how little confidence they had in Jurkovec's ability to win the game for his team. They insisted on running the ball even past the point that passing was necessary to get back in the game, which begs the question - if handoffs and quarterback sneaks are all Jurkovec is capable of, why is he the starter? Is there no one on the roster who's able to accomplish that without also coughing up three turnovers?

Narduzzi is repeating last year's mistakes. He sheltered Kedon Slovis up until the minute he decided to transfer from Pitt (at which point he felt free to criticize his former quarterback) and it appears he'll do the same thing this year as well. 

He insisted that the issues with the passing offense were collective and didn't fall squarely on Jurkovec's shoulders. But watching the game from up above the field, his decisions to constantly throw into coverage were plainly bad and led directly to the 10 points that put the game away for West Virginia.

“You guys are fast to want to pull the plug on somebody and that’s not how we do it," Narduzzi said. "I’m a positive guy. I try to stay positive and you start dumping people, whether it’s a corner or a tackle or quarterback, it’s not good for you. It’s never one person. I know you want to point the finger at one person, but it’s not. We all had a part in it.”

At a certain point, Jurkovec's struggles are accountable to people beyond his pay grade. It's one thing to play poorly and quite another to be allowed to play so poorly for so long without any attempt at change or a modicum of criticism. 

So Narduzzi is correct in a sense - this isn't all on Jurkovec - it's on his coaches who will continue to defend quarterback play that spoiled strong performances from the defense and special teams units. 

The commitment to Jurkovec is confounding and, to this point in the season, has been devastating. But the sixth-year senior will start again against North Carolina, according to his head coach, and have a chance to either sink lower or pull himself and this team out of the depths of 1-2. 

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